100 Theme Challenge Cirque Du Freak
by HankismyHero
Summary: In order to re-ignite my spark for writing CDF fics, I decided to take the 100 theme challenge. So, for the next 100 days, I'll be posting a new theme. INCLUDES: SPOILERS, DARREN/OC, VIOLENCE, ALL KINDS OF VAMPIRIC MAYHEM.
1. 1 Introductions

To this day, I'll never know why my parents had decided to move us back to Ireland. I was ten years old and already well settled in at school. I had a group of friends who I loved and spent a lot of time with and leaving them was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life- at the time, anyway. I remember when I first moved in, too. The weather was the first tough thing to adjust to. Whereas Chicago was pretty mild, Limerick was cloudy and rainy the majority of the time. Not to mention, they considered seventy degrees Fahrenheit to be warm in the summer. Weird, right!

The second most difficult thing to adjust to was school life. Starting over in a new town was one thing, but a whole different _country_ was one hell of a challenge! Since I was the new kid, I got picked on quite a bit for the next year or so until Nina (my closest and only friend until my teenage years) moved from Dublin; though the other select few kids who didn't torment me couldn't really be considered friends either. One of which, I realized some time after I met him, was my next-door-neighbor; Darren Shan. I knew I had the biggest crush on him when I first laid my eyes on him. With his pretty blue eyes and his sweet disposition, he was just too cute to not notice! My heart raced whenever I saw him, and I could've sworn I'd have a heart attack whenever his eyes met mine by mistake. But I was perfectly fine with that.

But that's beside the point. How we first met is what I'm trying to get at…

Anyway, the first day my family and I moved to Limerick, our neighbors- the Shans- came to greet us. I remember Kyle and I being shy kids at the time, so we weren't very talkative while our parents were introducing us and themselves to Dermot and Angela Shan… Well… _Kyle_ was shy; I just didn't like talking to grown-ups. So, while my parents were talking to Darren's, I spotted the boy playing soccer with Steve Leonard in the front yard. Darren's little sister Annie spotted me observing them and waved me over. After I hesitantly walked over to say hello, Darren and Steve paused their game to say hello to me first.

"Hi," Darren grinned; I felt my heart melt at the sight. That's right, folks! That's how fast he drew me in.

"Hi…" I smiled shyly. I never had a crush before; not one that made me feel so comfortable with myself, anyway. I had been so…awkward for the last boy I liked. But for Darren, it just felt like all was right with the world.

"I'm Darren and this is my friend Steve," he said, motioning to the blonde who plopped down in the grass, out of breath.

"I'm Judy," I grinned, feeling the happiest I'd ever felt in my life.


	2. 2 Complicated

"Do you know why I'm so freaking pissed off!" Judy shouted at a very irritated Darren Shan. "Well!"

"Because you have nothing better to do than act like my mother?" The brunette sighed, further fanning the flames. Jeez, all he did was tell his girlfriend the truth. They _were_ vampires, and she _was_ put in danger from associating with them. She deserved to know.

"No! Because you're the _genius _who has to tell _everyone_ what we are! What if someone switches sides later?" She asked, her hand motions only showing her frustration with him. "What if Debbie magically decides that she wants to side with the Vampaneze!"

"She wouldn't do that!" He shouted back at the girl, standing up, toe-to-toe with her to match her challenge. "You're crazy! You're obsessing over minor things that aren't going to matter in the long run."

"Yes, yes I am! Darren, what if it gets out to humans that they can distinguish vampires from everyone else!"

"You know what?" Darren smirked. "I think you're jealous."

"Me? Jealous of you for having an irritatingly helpless girlfriend!" Judy hooted. "You must be dreaming!"

"No, I think you're jealous of Debbie!" Judy felt her heart sink. He hit the nail right on the head. "Every time I'm with her, you get all angry and cynical. I wonder why!"

"I'm not bloody jealous of a dumb little human woman like her!" Judy hissed. How dare he be correct!

"Whatever you say!" He groaned, turning away from her and heading for the door.

"Where the hell are _you_ going?" The blonde demanded, her icy-blue eyes glaring daggers at him.

"None of your business!" Darren said grudgingly, exiting the hotel room before slamming the door shut.

"That man is just... Ugh!" She groaned, crossing her arms in anger and plopping down on a couch.

"Ah... Wow. Not even married and you fight like you've been tied together for decades," Vancha noted.

Judy glared over at him. "Shut up."

"Show respect for a superior, Judith!" The previously speechless Mr. Crepsley finally spoke. Of course, the first things he said were chastising his hotheaded assistant.

"Fine! Shut up, Sire!"

Vancha couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Let the girl vent, Larten! It's not very often that she has outbursts, anyway."

The red-clad vampire frowned. "But, Sire-"

"She's frustrated," Vancha shrugged. "Love'll do that to a girl in her position."

"Love!" Judy gasped. How did they know what she felt...? "What I would _love_ is for Darren to get it through his thick friggin' skull that I'm looking out for him!"

"And he will," Mr. Crepsley nodded; understanding what point Vancha was making.

"Give him time to think. Do you remember how difficult it was for him to start listening to me?"

"Well, yeah..." The blonde sighed. "But this is different. We've always worked together; and this is a war..."

"Aye," Vancha nodded. "But the concept of Darren being thick headed is the same."

"What should I do...?" By now, the anger had escaped her. It was replaced by sadness. It was true, she was jealous of Debbie. She wanted to be Darren's girl; always and forever. But destiny had dealt her this hand, and she grudgingly had to play it until the end.

"Speak with him when he comes back," Mr. Crepsley said. "It will clear things up."

Not long later, Judy sat waiting on the same couch for Darren to come back. He undoubtedly went to Debbie Hemlock's apartment to see her, but Judy would try to let that go when she saw him again. After all, he was her closest friend and she didn't want to change that.

She looked over to the hotel door as she heard it unlock and the knob turn. There stood Darren, looking sullen and very much calmed down. The blonde got to her feet and walked towards him.

The brunette shook his head, expecting another argument. "Judy, I-"

He was stopped abruptly by Judy setting her hand over his mouth. "I'm sorry." She said, removing her hand from his lips. "You were right, I admit I am kind of jealous. I'll work on it."

"What do you mean?" The brunette cocked an eyebrow to the girl. He did guess that she was jealous, but he didn't really know what exactly she felt such envy towards Debbie for. Perhaps because Debbie was a human with minor problems and got protected by someone she loved…

Sighing numbly, Judy wrapped her arms around Darren's shoulders and hugged him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's complicated."


	3. 3 Making History

"This blows!" I groaned, pushing my text book away. The last thing I wanted to do right now was history homework.

"Yeah, I know," my best friend Nina sighed, leaning back in her chair and slumping tiredly. "I wanna quit and get ice cream or something."

"Shut up, you're gonna make me want it...!" I yawned, a grin raising the corners of my lips.

Nina laughed. "Dude, let's just go get some!"

I stared at her for a moment as I made my decision. Sit and read about the Sino-Japanese War... Or give up and get ice cream...? "Oh, screw it, let's get ice cream!" Both of us excitedly jumped out of the chairs in my kitchen and darted for the door. As we stepped outside, the warm spring air greeted us despite the sun being obscured by clouds. As we paced down the sidewalk, I noted that springtime in the British Isles was much like a mild winter in Chicago. Chilly, wet, and very gray. Nina had never been to America before. She'd lived in Ireland all of her life and her relatives were all from Denmark. I'd often tell her about what I remembered the States to be like and thanks to the media, I was able to tell her what was always in style overseas too. That was how I'd introduced her to the punk look back when we were thirteen. It just stuck with us ever since. But now we were nineteen and in college. Darren and I have been together officially since we were fifteen after a long and fun friendship. I loved that boy with all of my heart and I still do. Hell, I'd marry him if he asked me! Nina's relationship with Steve hadn't started until just last year. They'd dated other people until they were ready to settle down with each other in a long-term relationship. I never asked Nina about her love life. She didn't like sharing the details, anyway. However, she was always curious about mine; and I'd answer her accordingly. After all, it was pretty fun to talk about!

"Y'know," Nina mused after we'd gotten our ice cream; though I couldn't pay full attention to her. My cone of chocolate chip cookie dough was much too enticing. "We should start a band. A rock band."

"Go on." I laughed, listening up. Nina was a creative girl. She liked coming up with ideas like this.

"Seriously! We could do it! I'm one hell of a good bassist, if I do say so myself!" I could hear the excitement and inspiration in her voic. She was serious this time. "And you could raise a freakin' roof with that sassy voice of yours!"

"Sassy?"

"Hell yeah!" The brunette continued. "We could be a punk band! You could find the bands who you want to be our influences and we could write songs! It would be so fun!"

"A band is more than two people, Nin's," I shrugged. As fun as it sounded, it sounded like just a dream that middle aged men chased when they avoided employment. "We'd need a drummer and some guitarists."

"You can play guitar, can't you?"

"Yeah, but I suck at it."

"So we'll practice! Come on!" She practically begged. "You can name the band and everything~"

... Now that was a sweet offer! "You sure?" I cocked an eyebrow at her, biting off part of the top of my sugar cone.

"Definitely! Let's look for members around the school on Monday! We'll hold auditions and have all summer to practice!"

"Alright, let's do it!" I nodded. "We're gonna have to kick ass of we wanna take this anywhere, though!"

"Trust me," The Danish girl laughed. "We're gonna be so awesome, we'll go down in history!"


End file.
